The present invention relates to a new and improved inflator assembly for inflating a vehicle occupant restraint, such as an air bag.
An inflator assembly for inflating an air bag commonly includes a gas generating material. The gas generating material, when ignited, generates gas which is directed into the air bag. Certain gas generating materials, when ignited, also generate combustion products such as particulate material and molten material. It is desirable to remove these combustion products from the generated gas prior to the gas entering the air bag. To this end, many inflators include filters and tortuous gas flow paths which trap the particulate material and on which the molten material plates out of the gas flow.
An inflator assembly for inflating an air bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,981. This patent discloses an inflator containing a gas generating material which is ignitable to provide gas for inflating the air bag. The generated gas contacts a deflector having curved vanes which deflect the generated gas outwardly toward a wall of a chamber. The generated gas flows from the chamber into the air bag to inflate the air bag. The inflator has structure for minimizing molten material and particulate material generated by ignition of the gas generating material from entering the air bag.
Another inflator assembly for inflating an air bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,205. This inflator assembly includes a container which holds gas under pressure. When the air bag is to be inflated, a squib is actuated to ignite a gas generating material. As the gas generating material burns, the pressure in the container is increased due to the gas and heat created by burning of the gas generating material. When a predetermined pressure is reached, a burst disk is ruptured to enable the gas to flow from the container to the air bag.